IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jimfin/v85y2018icp124-144.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

U.S. corporate investment and foreign penetration: Imports and inward foreign direct investment

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Rui
  • Wan, Chi
  • Wang, Mengying

Abstract

This paper examines the joint effect of imports and inward foreign direct investment (iFDI), the two primary entry forms of foreign companies to the U.S. product market, on domestic firms’ capital investment decisions. We develop novel firm-level measures to gauge the impact of imports and iFDI. We show that increased import competition significantly reduces U.S. firms’ investment; in contrast, the effect of iFDI on investment is largely nonsignificant. Further analysis suggests that the negative effect of imports on investment is due to competition-induced decline in cash flows. And the nonsignificant result for iFDI can be partly attributed to technology spillovers generated by foreign multinational’s U.S. productions, which promote U.S. local firms’ innovation capacity and consequently offset the negative effect of foreign competition on investment. Overall, our results indicate that foreign competition plays a key role in shaping corporate investment policy and highlight the distinct implications of imports and iFDI on firm investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Rui & Wan, Chi & Wang, Mengying, 2018. "U.S. corporate investment and foreign penetration: Imports and inward foreign direct investment," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 124-144.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:85:y:2018:i:c:p:124-144
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2018.04.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261560618302110
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jimonfin.2018.04.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    2. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    3. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2121-2168, October.
    4. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Gary Pisano & Pian Shu, 2020. "Foreign Competition and Domestic Innovation: Evidence from US Patents," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 357-374, September.
    5. Hsieh, Chang-Tai & Ossa, Ralph, 2016. "A global view of productivity growth in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 209-224.
    6. Brian J. Aitken & Ann E. Harrison, 2022. "Do Domestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 6, pages 139-152, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Xiaming Liu & Pamela Siler & Chengqi Wang & Yingqi Wei, 2000. "Productivity Spillovers From Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence From UK Industry Level Panel Data," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 31(3), pages 407-425, September.
    8. Jaffe, Adam B, 1986. "Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D: Evidence from Firms' Patents, Profits, and Market Value," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 984-1001, December.
    9. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Jae Song, 2014. "Trade Adjustment: Worker-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1799-1860.
    10. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    11. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford & Schott, Peter K., 2006. "Survival of the best fit: Exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 219-237, January.
    12. Hall, B. & Jaffe, A. & Trajtenberg, M., 2001. "The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," Papers 2001-29, Tel Aviv.
    13. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2016. "Spillovers from Foreign Firms through Worker Mobility: An Empirical Investigation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT, chapter 13, pages 243-259, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Jen Baggs & James A Brander, 2006. "Trade liberalization, profitability, and financial leverage," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(2), pages 196-211, March.
    15. Justin R. Pierce & Peter K. Schott, 2009. "A Concordance Between Ten-Digit U.S. Harmonized System Codes and SIC/NAICS Product Classes and Industries," NBER Working Papers 15548, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Wang, Mengying, 2017. "Does foreign direct investment affect host-country firms' financial constraints?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 522-539.
    17. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Wolfgang Keller & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2009. "Multinational Enterprises, International Trade, and Productivity Growth: Firm-Level Evidence from the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 821-831, November.
    19. Kristien Coucke & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2008. "Offshoring as a survival strategy: evidence from manufacturing firms in Belgium," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(8), pages 1261-1277, December.
    20. Kenneth A. Froot & Jeremy C. Stein, 1991. "Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment: An Imperfect Capital Markets Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1191-1217.
    21. Xu, Jin, 2012. "Profitability and capital structure: Evidence from import penetration," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 427-446.
    22. Robert C. Feenstra, 1996. "U.S. Imports, 1972-1994: Data and Concordances," NBER Working Papers 5515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Valta, Philip, 2012. "Competition and the cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 661-682.
    24. Jun Zhou & Laurence Booth & Bin Chang, 2013. "Import competition and disappearing dividends," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(2), pages 138-154, February.
    25. Varouj A. Aivazian & Ying Ge & Jiaping Qiu, 2005. "Debt Maturity Structure and Firm Investment," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(4), Winter.
    26. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    27. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    28. Keller, Wolfgang, 2010. "International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology Spillovers," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 793-829, Elsevier.
    29. Daron Acemoglu & David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Brendan Price, 2016. "Import Competition and the Great US Employment Sag of the 2000s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 141-198.
    30. Marianne Bertrand, 2004. "From the Invisible Handshake to the Invisible Hand? How Import Competition Changes the Employment Relationship," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(4), pages 723-766, October.
    31. Jennifer P. Poole, 2013. "Knowledge Transfers from Multinational to Domestic Firms: Evidence from Worker Mobility," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 393-406, May.
    32. Brainard, S Lael, 1997. "An Empirical Assessment of the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off between Multinational Sales and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 520-544, September.
    33. Blalock, Garrick & Gertler, Paul J., 2009. "How firm capabilities affect who benefits from foreign technology," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 192-199, November.
    34. Whited, Toni M, 1992. "Debt, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1425-1460, September.
    35. Laurent Frésard & Philip Valta, 2016. "How Does Corporate Investment Respond to Increased Entry Threat?," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(1), pages 1-35.
    36. Herwartz, Helmut & Walle, Yabibal M., 2014. "Openness and the finance-growth nexus," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 235-247.
    37. Peter K. Schott, 2008. "The relative sophistication of Chinese exports [‘Manufacturing Earnings and Compensation in China’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(53), pages 6-49.
    38. Jaffe, Adam B, 1988. "Demand and Supply Influences in R&D Intensity and Productivity Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(3), pages 431-437, August.
    39. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1097-1122, June.
    40. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips & Nagpurnanand Prabhala, 2014. "Product Market Threats, Payouts, and Financial Flexibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 293-324, February.
    41. Garrick Blalock & Daniel H Simon, 2009. "Do all firms benefit equally from downstream FDI? The moderating effect of local suppliers’ capabilities on productivity gains," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(7), pages 1095-1112, September.
    42. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Post-Print hal-00537081, HAL.
    43. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    44. Ana L. Revenga, 1992. "Exporting Jobs?The Impact of Import Competition on Employment and Wages in U. S. Manufacturing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 255-284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Chao & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2022. "The effect of environmental regulation and skill premium on the inflow of FDI:Evidence from Chinese industrial sectors," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 227-242.
    2. Yu Ma & Xinqian Du, 2022. "Exchange rate factors, income levels, and investment abroad: An empirical study based on a sample of emerging economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 1711-1730, April.
    3. Yury N. Vorobyov & Elena I. Vorobyova, 2019. "Investment potential of Russia’s economy: Opportunities for financing the development," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 41-60, March.
    4. Burke, Qing L. & Wang, Mengying & Xu, Xiaolu, 2020. "How does international trade affect U.S. corporate investment? Evidence from the asset tangibility channel," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 41-54.
    5. Booth, Laurence & Wang, Mengying & Zhou, Jun, 2019. "Import competition and financial flexibility: Evidence from corporate payout policy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 382-396.
    6. Qian, Xianhang & Qiu, Shanyun, 2023. "Political risk and corporate international supply chain," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Umar FAROOQ, 2023. "Trade Liberalization and Real Sector Investment Decisions: A Panel Data Evidence from Selected Economies of Asia," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 52-71, June.
    8. Atawnah, Nader & Zaman, Rashid & Liu, Jia & Atawna, Thaer & Maghyereh, Aktham, 2023. "Does foreign competition affect corporate debt maturity structure? Evidence from import penetration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Mengying, 2017. "Does foreign direct investment affect host-country firms' financial constraints?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 522-539.
    2. Burke, Qing L. & Wang, Mengying & Xu, Xiaolu, 2020. "How does international trade affect U.S. corporate investment? Evidence from the asset tangibility channel," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 41-54.
    3. Qing L. Burke & Tim V. Eaton & Mengying Wang, 2019. "Trade liberalization and conditional accounting conservatism: evidence from import competition," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 811-844, October.
    4. Atawnah, Nader & Zaman, Rashid & Liu, Jia & Atawna, Thaer & Maghyereh, Aktham, 2023. "Does foreign competition affect corporate debt maturity structure? Evidence from import penetration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    6. R. Jared DeLisle & Mengying Wang & H. Zafer Yüksel & Gulnara R. Zaynutdinova, 2024. "The effects of import competition on domestic financial markets: The role of limits-to-arbitrage," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(2), pages 212-234, March.
    7. Dasgupta, Sudipto & Chen, Chen & Huynh, Thanh & Xia, Ying, 2020. "Product Market Competition and the Relocation of Economic Activity: Evidence from the Supply Chain," CEPR Discussion Papers 15056, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Gary Pisano & Pian Shu, 2020. "Foreign Competition and Domestic Innovation: Evidence from US Patents," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 357-374, September.
    9. Qianqian Huang & Ryoonhee Kim, 2019. "Capital structure decisions along the supply chain: Evidence from import competition," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(6), pages 873-894, August.
    10. Srinivasan, Shweta, 2020. "Foreign competition and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    11. Katarzyna Platt, 2020. "Corporate Bonds And Product Market Competition," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 615-647, August.
    12. Andrew N. Greenland & Mihai Ion & John W. Lopresti & Peter K. Schott, 2020. "Using Equity Market Reactions to Infer Exposure to Trade Liberalization," NBER Working Papers 27510, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Izadi, Mohammad & Saadi, Vahid, 2023. "Banking Market Structure and Trade Shocks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    14. De Lyon, Josh & Pessoa, Joao Paulo, 2021. "Worker and firm responses to trade shocks: The UK-China case," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Fromenteau, Philippe & Schymik, Jan & Tscheke, Jan, 2016. "Import Competition and the Composition of Firm Investments," Discussion Papers in Economics 29654, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    16. Bakke, Tor-Erik & Feng, Felix Zhiyu & Mahmudi, Hamed & Zhu, Caroline H., 2022. "Foreign competition and CEO risk-incentive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Gong, Robin Kaiji, 2023. "The local technology spillovers of multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    18. julien sauvagnat & Erik Loualiche & Jean-Noel Barrot, 2015. "Import Competition and the Cost of Capital," 2015 Meeting Papers 898, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Lee, Pil-Seng, 2023. "Product market threats and tax avoidance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    20. Teresa C. Fort & Justin R. Pierce & Peter K. Schott, 2018. "New Perspectives on the Decline of US Manufacturing Employment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 47-72, Spring.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign direct investment; International trade liberalization; Capital investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:85:y:2018:i:c:p:124-144. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30443 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.